Piada Italian Street Food — Restaurant in Houston

Welp…

the only thing decent about this place are their prices. If you want cheap ‘Italian’ food, then sure. Come here. But even then…your food will be cold, the place will be half as**ed cleaned. There are soda spills by the fountain drink dispenser and it’s always sticky so don’t touch it or set your items down unless you like having sticky hands, and sticky leather seats in your car. It wouldn’t matter though because the machine leaks soda all over the floor anyway. But they won’t clean it up.

Speaking of service, all of their employees are rude rude rude rude!!! And for what? I walk in and I will make eye contact with four people and they’ll scatter because they don’t want to help you nor will they go get someone to help you. You literally just stand there until one of them feels like helping you. It’s wild. It was even wilder that I didn’t turn around and walk out. All of those people talking in the back and not one can come out and say “hey there’s a line we should probably idk do our jobs?” (Imagine being in a rush and stopping here. Don’t waste your time friends). One girl even gave me the stink eye for being irritated…that was cute. (Sarcasm is heavy here).

They have their food in those heated pots but somehow it still comes out pasty and cold, even when I ordered the ‘hot’ pasta sauce. I don’t understand. I just bought it. How was it cold?! 1/10. Yuck, yuck yuck. Their noodles are so stiff too, poor things didn’t even flex when I twirled my fork!!? Is this cooked? Over cooked? I don’t know. My dog didn’t even want it. I wish I was joking, I threw it away because it was gross and he eats out of the trash frequently and didn’t even touch it.

This place is literally 5 minutes from my house. I’d rather drive 30 because at least I know I’ll get quality service, actual hot food and it won’t take me 20 minutes to get my FAST FOOD. Piada’s is a fast food restaurant and they don’t even know it, apparently.

If I wanted to wait 15-20 minutes for some food, I’d go to an actual restaurant for my meal. If y’all like quality food and actually want your moneys worth. Don’t stop here. If you don’t care bout it. This is the place for you.

Overall, rude service, cold food, nasty store, convenient...

Piada is a nice place. After passing it on Memorial Drive literally dozens if not hundreds of times, I decided to go in, and I'm glad I did. Piada may be commercial, but it doesn't feel jaded or hyped.

Upon arrival, I was assisted by a very nice food preparer who answered my questions about what's available - congenial service, to be sure. My order was a pepperoni pastry stick (not the best description, but delicious, I promise) and a small bowl of penne pasta with various toppings. In addition to regular Pepsi products, they have another fountain tap featuring Piada-branded flavors like orange and berry sodas. The orange was tasty, sort of like an Orangina if you've ever had one of those.

The decor of the place is pretty - high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows facing Memorial Drive, with stylish, spacious seating and fixtures. This is a place you could bring a date if you want something nice, but not overly expensive.

My personal preferences - and why I didn't give a full 5 stars (I wanted to give 4.5, but that's not possible and 4.4 is the average rating anyway!) - were for the music and the sauce. The music playing over the sound system had a bit of a "bistro/techno" vibe to it. In and of itself, that's not a deal breaker, but so many businesses seem to default to that as background music these days. The origins of Piada are the founder's visits to Italy. Why not Italian standards? Or jazz (smooth or classic)?

Regarding the sauce, the pomodoro was good also, but a bit on the sweet side. I prefer my sauces to be saltier. Again, not a deal breaker by any means, and many of you will like the pomodoro, I'm sure.

If you go to Piada for the first time, I suggest starting with a small pasta bowl - the serving size is quite ample. If you find that doesn't satisfy you, the regular serving will be more than enough. And don't forget to order a pepperoni stick - I plan on making a meal of several of those the next time I go. I will try the actual piada wraps on another trip.

I enjoyed the food so much, I had to say a happy word to the chef, who was actively at work - and, apparently, is the general manager! Well done,...

My coworker ordered food online at the medical center location and I loved it. So on my day off I decided to try the memorial location. I was mistaken for a food courier when I got their. Then, my food was made so sloppy. Or maybe it was too much sauce. Then the pasta was not cooked thoroughly. I was schooled by the chef that most Italian restaurants cook their food Al Dente. Versus saying Piada cooks their pasta Al Dente. Which is fine but these noodles were chalky. I asked them to just try the noodle and they wouldn’t and believed they were in the right and assumed I didn’t know what I was talking about. It tasted total opposite from the medical center location. They didn’t automatically cut it in half either like the medical center did. Which made it worse to cut. I picked the wrap up and the food fell out at the bottom. The sauce wasn’t thick and it was almost too much sauce. It wasn’t made with care. I was eating on the go. What a mess. Also I felt small when the chef told me about how pasta is cooked in most Italian restaurants. As if I’ve never been. As I served in food and beverage for 10 years. Why would that be the response? He may not have meant it in a negative way but it hurt in a negative way. They did remake my food but the pasta was still chalky. They said they could not refund my money because it was paid with a card. Or because it was paid online. Also because they remade it. The best he could offer me was a percentage off my next meal. It was only $8 but I worked hard for that money. I didn’t want the food because it was not made like the one I had from the medical center. So I just left it there. I really just wanted to treat myself because I’m always trying to save money and eat at home. Piada has a very clean restaurant and nice atmosphere with great prices. I want to give them another try but perhaps not the Memorial location and possibly...